ABORTION SURVIVOR WILL TELL HER STORY

Angela GambillTHE BALTIMORE SUN

A 14-year-old girl whose mother tried unsuccessfully to abort her atseven months will tell her story tonight and tomorrow at two Maryland locations.

Gianna Jessen weighed 2 pounds when she survived a saline abortion and was taken to a hospital by an abortion clinic worker. The young woman now travels with her adopted mother, Diana DePaul,speaking at churches and anti-abortion rallies.

The teen-ager will sing and speak tonight at 7:30 at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church on Marriottsville Road and tomorrow night at the Choptank Crisis Pregnancy Center on the Eastern Shore. She spoke last night at Loyola College as part of the school's Defend Life lecture series.

Bethany Christian Services, an Anne Arundel County adoptionagency sponsoring the young woman this weekend, sees Gianna as a symbol of its work.

Said Peggy Adams, an agency worker: "Obviously for us, she's representative of all that Bethany strives for as an organization -- providing alternatives to abortion and preserving the sanctity of human life. Gianna is a very powerful testimony to those goals."

Gianna, who lives in San Clemente, Calif., composes and singscontemporary Christian music.

Said Adams: "She's doing a youth rally and concert here. We feel that the youth of today get mixed messages morally. Gianna's message speaks for our values as an agency, on behalf of the unborn for which she holds a special kinship."

The 14-year-old learned the circumstances of her birth from her adoptive mother two years ago.

Gianna and DePaul have appeared on the "700 Club" Christian television program, the "Maury Povich Show" and many concerts and Right to Life rallies.